Victorian teachers were on strike yesterday, fighting to be paid the same as there interstate colleagues. As a (non practising) teacher and a parent who of children at a school with great teachers who well and truly deserve a fair go, I fully support the industrial action.
A bonus of the strike is that our kids got to be home for the day.
The weather sadly turned bad for the morning, but we made the most of it inside. The craft cupboard got a massive cleanout! Sorting through hundreds of pencils, textas, collage materials, paint brushes, colouring books and playdough tools. It took quite a while and made a big mess, but we all feel that we are a bit more updated to the current crafty needs of the boys.
The cleaning made us hungry, so a batch of oven baked donuts was very popular! This is a great recipe, but next time I make them I'll be sure to give them a really good knead before rolling the dough out. It made about 16 big donuts, so most went in the freezer for lunchbox treats for the rest of the week.
Cleaning up the craft cupboard also inspired some crafting by the boys and they made themselves shields, popped on their pillow case tunics (that I made them for the 6th birthday party), added jewels to their belts, grabbed swords and played knights. There were elements of Beast Quest (their favourite book series), Deltora Quest (another good book series) and their own wild imaginations in the game. It was great to watch them (and made us both satisfied we've made them good pressies for their birthday this year).
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The sun finally made an appearance in the afternoon, so we got some work done in the the courtyard. We pulled up pavers from an area that will become a small garden bed, and prepared to lay them in a new place (the path to the not-yet-built pizza oven). This meant we were digging out 10cm of roadbase where the pavers were, and soil where they're going. All was bagged up for a change of location as soon as we have framing timber in.
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I'm loving working in the courtyard and dreaming of the finished product. Tuesday night was warm, so we cooked our tortillas on the bbq plate and ate them out there by candlelight - fun!
Aren't the days where you are all together just bumbling along nice?
A bonus of the strike is that our kids got to be home for the day.
The weather sadly turned bad for the morning, but we made the most of it inside. The craft cupboard got a massive cleanout! Sorting through hundreds of pencils, textas, collage materials, paint brushes, colouring books and playdough tools. It took quite a while and made a big mess, but we all feel that we are a bit more updated to the current crafty needs of the boys.
The cleaning made us hungry, so a batch of oven baked donuts was very popular! This is a great recipe, but next time I make them I'll be sure to give them a really good knead before rolling the dough out. It made about 16 big donuts, so most went in the freezer for lunchbox treats for the rest of the week.
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Cleaning up the craft cupboard also inspired some crafting by the boys and they made themselves shields, popped on their pillow case tunics (that I made them for the 6th birthday party), added jewels to their belts, grabbed swords and played knights. There were elements of Beast Quest (their favourite book series), Deltora Quest (another good book series) and their own wild imaginations in the game. It was great to watch them (and made us both satisfied we've made them good pressies for their birthday this year).
.jpg)
The sun finally made an appearance in the afternoon, so we got some work done in the the courtyard. We pulled up pavers from an area that will become a small garden bed, and prepared to lay them in a new place (the path to the not-yet-built pizza oven). This meant we were digging out 10cm of roadbase where the pavers were, and soil where they're going. All was bagged up for a change of location as soon as we have framing timber in.
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Aren't the days where you are all together just bumbling along nice?
Those two book series you mentioned - what age group do you think they are suitable for? Just that I have a six year old currently mad about knights etc....although she is reading the Hardy Boys at the moment.
ReplyDeleteMore rotten weather on the way, we're getting it right now:z Never mind, as you say...very good chance to get those inside jobs done.
And I cannot believe they haven't worked out that teachers, police officers etc should be paid more than sports people (hurrumph). I hope they have a win...and if not I think we should invent a tipping system like hospitality so that we can give the teachers we love a big tip :)
Go for Beast Quest! The writing annoys me occasionally, but we started reading it to the boys (2 chapters a night) when they were about 5. They now read it themselves (they sat in the sun and devoured a whole book each on the weekend!). Your library will definately have them, or you can buy them at Kmart or local bookshops or www.bookdepository.co.uk has great prices and free postage which is pretty quick. Regarding the actual storyline, the heros are Tom and Elenna, friends and young people of an undisclosed age (but people tend to call them children). Their companions, Silver the wolf and Storm the stallion, join them as they go around the mythical land of Avantia saving good beasts and defeating bad beasts. Tom is a mean swordsman with a magical shield and Elenna is an awesome archer who uses herbal remedies. Its quite good really. And one of the best things is that they don't make additional merchandise (my kids are merchandise fanatics), so we're giving them homemade beast quest toys for their birthday. A word from the wise though, there are over 60 books in the series, they are in sets of 6 with a new set coming out twice a year! And yes, we've read them all and own an awful lot of them. But you are best to start at the beginning - look for the first series with Ferno, Spreon, Arcta, Tagus etc.
ReplyDeleteHave fun!
Yum!! Oven baked donuts sounds delicious. I wish I wasn't gluten free. Cinnamon donuts are one thing I really miss. ...Off to google gluten free donuts x t.
ReplyDelete